Taste

Culimaat: inspiring, innovative & exceptional design

16 juni 2022Door MASTERS Redactie7 min lezenART & DESIGN

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The kitchen is now far more than a space for cooking and dining. This is why every element matters: design, materials, innovative details, functionality, layout, equipment and finish. Culimaat, a high-end kitchen specialist, is the place to find what you need. The new coffee table book High End Kitchens offers plenty of inspiration.

With pride…

The hardcover coffee table book 'High End Kitchens' was proudly launched in Hilversum. You immerse yourself in the world of high-end kitchens using fifteen recent kitchen concepts. Kitchen concepts where boundless creativity and innovation come together. In 'High End Kitchens' you get exclusive access to videos of projects, powerful photography and you can read the story about Culimaat and their working method.

Back in the days

Since 1983, Culimaat has stood for kitchens where design, functionality and quality go together in good harmony. They realize designs that fit seamlessly into their natural environment. The specialist creates kitchen concepts in which every element – large and small – serves to fully enjoy the beauty of life. They create kitchens that go beyond dreams and imagination.

When founder Jan Swanenberg started his own furniture factory on an industrial estate in Berlicum in Brabant in '83, perfection, top quality and innovation were created. Although the company initially focuses on manufacturing high-quality custom furniture, over the years the focus has increasingly shifted to designing and realizing luxury kitchen concepts. In the meantime, we are also working hard on our own brand Culimaat, which is gaining more and more fame in the world of exclusive interiors and lifestyle.

Co-owners and designers Twan and Davy Swanenberg literally grew up in their father's furniture workshop. They are instilled with a love for the profession at an early age. They learn the intricacies of design at an early age. In 2007, Twan and Davy decided to continue their father's work and ideas together. Under their inspiring leadership - and in 2017 with the arrival of director Herman Ossenblok - Culimaat grew into the established name that the company is today. Today, Culimaat symbolizes the design and manufacture of the most exclusive custom-made kitchen concepts, giving the concept of 'kitchen' a whole new meaning.

**Custom Made meets optimal living pleasure**

“We are driven by making exceptional kitchen elements,” says Twan enthusiastically. “We thereby ignore everything that is standard. Design, functionality and quality always have a shared first place in our work. We translate these principles into a harmonious and high-quality whole. The concept is always fully tailored to the lives of the users, aesthetically enriches the total living experience and forms a perfect whole, in which every element fits together seamlessly. For us, only the best is good enough. That is why we think much further than the kitchen itself. We approach every challenge as a total project. This creates a completely tailor-made concept that makes an important contribution to the entire living experience.”

Groundbreaking and unique

Each high-end kitchen concept is a unique combination of design, color, material and finish and tells the individual story of a customer. They are in fact art objects that are designed in such a way that they optimally suit the user. Davy: “The shape and dimensions are created based on the space and the concept. Nothing is standard. We regularly develop unique applications ourselves that we have made in Italy. We source natural stone, metal and special finishes directly from Italy.” Twan: “We get inspiration, among other things, by visiting well-known trade fairs, such as the Italian Salone del Mobile. In this way we always try to learn, think beyond boundaries and stimulate our creativity. We always think beyond trends. What we create must still be beautiful twenty years from now. And unique. No two kitchens are the same, just as no two customers are the same. The common thread is the top quality that we achieve everywhere. That drive for perfection is truly characteristic of Culimaat.”

The ultimate Culimaat experience

The Culimaat experience is characterized by a perfectly smooth process in which customers are taken care of from A to Z. Twan: “Everything is manufactured in-house. This allows us to deliver consistent top quality.” That starts with the introduction. “In this phase we want to discover who our clients are,” Twan explains. “What do they like, how do they live, what do they enjoy? We then translate this into a detailed design. We also think it is important that people know who Culimaat is. That they understand why we do what we do. We go very far in our designs and details, but certainly also in the realization process. Our clients are often people who also have an affection for design, who love top quality and exclusivity. Then you are immediately at the same level. We also attach great importance to good communication. Each client is assigned a project manager who supervises the entire process and answers the client with every question.”

“The technical development and work preparation are also important links in the process,” says Davy. “I worked in work preparation for two years to experience everything up close, to discover what is going well and what we can optimize. For example, we have developed software that makes it possible to automate part of the work process and thus work even more efficiently and precisely. Based on the idea 'machines can do things that humans can't', we want to ignore human effort, so that we are not limited in any way in our designs and realizations. The software enables us to remove technical errors or imperfections from the design at an early stage and thus avoid detailed deviations. This allows us to translate the conceived design without compromise into a high-quality realization with a top quality finish and ditto level of detail. We combine automation with pure craftsmanship. This is a golden combination. As professionals, we ensure quality, for example by carrying out checks and sanding and brushing the wood. In addition, installation on location is also provided by our own team of specialists. So that the kitchens match the concept devised and created down to the last detail.” Twan: “We always ask afterwards how a client experienced the process. Because by definition the customer is always right. The feedback helps us to continuously improve our business operations and to do even better every time.”

The Equinox One

The kitchen concept of one million. As a result, Culimaat's brand awareness has increased further with the development of this prestigious one million project. Davy, the creative brain behind the kitchen concept: “I was able to fully express myself in the design in terms of shapes, materials and details. Think: side walls of gold leaf, a back wall of semi-precious stones, parts of matted and highly polished stainless steel, quartzite kitchen tops and LED lighting that can be adjusted to your own taste. The result: An ultra-luxury kitchen concept, in which the most beautiful, special and most innovative materials and shapes come together in a creation that symbolizes ultimate luxury and unprecedented living pleasure. The national and international attention they received because of the Equinox was overwhelming. Culimaat received so much attention that they postponed the international launch. Culimaat only expects the very best from itself. That is why they are now working on a perfect further development of this luxury kitchen concept, so that the Equinox can be properly realized anywhere in the world.

In addition, thanks to continuous innovation, Culimaat has experienced significant growth, both nationally and internationally. Several designs have even been awarded and the company has won several important awards, including the Kitchen Design Award Western Europe and the World Kitchen Design Award USA in 2013.